View source for 2022-08-17 - Investigating Rumors

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! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: Investigating Rumors'''
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|'''Summary''':<br>
''Endo Naoki goes to investigate rumors of magic surrounding the new transfer student, Kyouka Okazaki.''
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|'''Who''':<br>
[[Kyouka Okazaki]], [[Endo Naoki]]
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|'''Where:'''<br>
Outside Juuban High, Early Morning
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|'''OOC - IC Date:'''<br>
August 17, 2022 - Tuesday, Jan 05, 2016
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 <Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
There's certainly been chatter enough about Kyouka Okazaki, the new student, going around, for a whole host of reasons: joining in the middle of the school year (just before winter break), conflicting stories about if she's Japanese or American, how she speaks fluent Japanese but still seems a tad awkward socially despite that, reportedly good grades, more-easily confirmed performance in the track club, her dyed black and purple hair...

For those inclined to look into such things, there's another one that started a few weeks after her arrival that might be noteworthy: gossip about how the new kid was trying to sell some story about magic or wizards or something to one Himeko Hamegawa, a fellow 10th year student in her class (spread by Himiko herself.) There's no love lost between them, but various sources say Kyouka's been either embarrassed by it, or trying to deny or downplay it.

Kyouka herself isn't hard to spot, once you know the tidbit about her hair, and she's also not hard to find before class. This particular day, like most days before class when the weather isn't ''too'' bad, finds her outside, in some quiet, out of the way spot where she can relax and take in the brisk morning air. If not for the recurring snow, she'd most likely be sprawled out with her back against a tree, but for now, a bench has to do.

She's got her backpack next to her, earbuds in her ears, her legs stretched out in front of her, and she seems to be eating a snack of some kind from a small paper bag. She seems completely relaxed and content, for the moment.

 <Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.

Endo Naoki tends to arrive at school either very early or very late, depending on what he has to do on any given morning. On this particular day its the former, the boy having arrived at Juuban with time to spare after finishing an early shift at one of the local konibis. He still wears the pink and red stripped hat that makes up part of his uniform, and in one hand he carries a small plastic bag filled with his breakfast; a pair of onigiri and a bottle of green tea.

It's on his search for a quiet place to have his meal that he spots Kyouka occupying her bench. Though hes not usually the first in line for school gossip, he does recognize the recently transferred student from the few snippets of rumors that have been circulating around Juuban. And the speculations surrounding her are of at least tangential interest, enough that investigation might be warranted.

"Hi." He makes sure to raise his voice to hopefully be heard above the noise of the girls headphones. Theres some arm waving as extra insurance, and he points to the far end of the bench occupied by the girls legs. "Can I sit?" A friendly smile is offered with the question.

"Youre the new student, right?" He continues, making conversation as he awaits space to be made.

 <Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka actually turned her music down a little bit when she notices the other student approaching, though not all the way, but certainly enough to hear him the first time. When he seems to actually speak to her she pauses it entirely, pulling the ear buds out and responding with a relaxed, "Hey." She looks you up and down for a brief second--her eyes linger on that hat, which gets an eyebrow raise but no comment--and she quickly nods when you ask about sitting.

"Oh, sure!" she says, swinging her legs off of the bench and then scooting over for good measure to make sure you have enough room. "Sorry about that. Just... relaxing a bit before the schoolday starts, you know?"

She nods a bit in response to your other question, "Yeeeep, that's me, alright." She seems to start to go for a handshake, then falters and withdraws it without comment. "Kyouka Okazaki. I'm a 10th year student. How about you?" Awkward aborted handshake aside, she seems conversationally pleasant enough.

 <Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.

Endo plops down when room is made, setting his bag down and removing one of the neatly wrapped riceballs. He sets to opening it, carefully peeling aside paper before turning to address Kyouka once again.

"Im Endo. Endo Naoki, 12th year. Nice to meet you." He offers another bright smile, pausing to nibble at his breakfast before adding: "Relaxing is good."

He takes a moment to consider how to approach his next question. Eventually, he asks: "So, youre a Sailor V fan, right? Or, was it a different magical girl? I can't remember." He assumes if Kyouka is talking about magic she must be familiar with one of Tokyos famous magical girls. Either the real ones, or one of the more fictional.

 <Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka now has her legs stretched out on the ground now, crossed at the ankles as she keeps nibbling at whatever she's got in the bag. She glances over to see you opening your rice ball. "What's for breakfast?" she asks.

She returns the smile with a nod when you introduce yourself, "Nice to meet you too. And yeah, relaxing is pretty good. Most mornings I get up early to work out." She glances up at your hat again before continuing, "I'mmmm guessing your morning involves a workout of a different sort."

She blinks a little when you say 'Sailor V', looking absolutely confused, though your follow up question gets a bit of a surprised reaction at the words 'magical girl.' She quickly covers that up with confusion again. "I'm... sorry, is that... a show or a manga or something? I'm, a bit out of touch with pop culture," she admits, with a blush. "You know, transfer student, just moved here less than a couple months ago. I also don't really watch a lot of TV, so..."

 <Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.

"This one is...salmon," Endo says of his riceball. "And the other is chicken. I guess it's not really the best breakfast, but it works most of the time." A somber nod follows as Endo takes another bite out of the triangle of rice. He munches, swallowing with a gulp before regarding Kyouka once more.

"Oh, this?" There's a brief pause before Endo doffs the hat from his head and stuffs it away in his backpack. "Ah, I forgot." The boy laughs, adding: "I always forget something."

At the answer to his magical girl question the boy considers, asking: "Ahh, really? She's a superhero. She has a TV show and everything. Someone's actually doing a school play about her, it's a big thing. But, I guess if you don't know her, maybe I heard wrong. Sorry!" He shrugs, laughing again before changing topic slightly.

"So, ah, where are you from? Do they have magical people there?" Presumably he's talking about fictional magical people, but there seems to be genuine interest in the question.

 <Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Salmon, huh? Interesting. Did you make those yourself? I've been learning a bunch of new recipies since I got here, but I haven't gotten to those yet."

She chuckles a bit when you take the hat off. "For a second I was worried the dress code had changed and nobody had told me," she says with a bit of a wry grin. "Wouldn't be the ''first'' thing I found out about after everyone else, though..." she adds quietly with a bit of a frown.

Kyouka nods along as you explain about Sailor V. "Ahh, I see. Uhm... I'm sorry, what was it you heard again?" She's got her suspicions, but... 'Sailor V' is definitely a new wrinkle she hadn't heard yet, so she's not really all that sure yet.

"Oh, uhm, well..." she takes a moment to formulate an answer. "Kind of all over, I guess? My dad's in the U.S. military, and he gets posted to different places a lot, so my Mom and I go where he goes. ''Technically'' I'm a U.S. citizen, but I've barely spent any time there. Oh, and my mom's originally from Japan, so she made sure to teach me Japanese when I was growing up. In case you were wondering."

"As for magical people, well... I've seen a lot of peoples' different cultural beliefs, so depending on your point of view, I guess there's lots of magical people all over. Though I think the more accurate word would probably be spiritual, in most cases." Of course, pre-magical girl status she would have respected all of them but not neccesarily believed ''in'' them. Nowadays, however... might be worth taking another look someday.

 <Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.

"Oh, no, it's just convenience store stuff. I guess I could make my own, but it's easier just to buy them. And I get a discount, so..." He shrugs, offering a short smile before he moves on to unwrapping the second onigiri.

"Oh, just some gossip. Something about magic." Endo replies. "I thought maybe you were talking about magical girls."

"Ah, I see." Endo says of Kyouka's origin. "Really? You must have been to a lot of places, then. That's pretty cool. I haven't been outside Japan... too much." He trails off, not going into further detail.

"Anyway, don't worry about the rumors. Sorry I brought it up." A hand is waved, as if to wipe the topic from the air.

&lt;POINTLESS INQUIRY.&gt; The words are like a crackle of static in the air, a reverberation of magic thats nearly imperceptible--except to another Intelligent Device.

 <Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka nods as you answer about the onigiri. "Ahh, I see. Well, if you get a discount then, that's a pretty smart move, I guess. I like trying new things, and collecting recipes."

When you mention the gossip, though... Her expression turns sour. "Oh, ''that''." She looks away a little. "That was... just some prank. Hamegawa keeps giving me a hard time, so I was trying to..." She gestures a bit futily. "Play a joke on her, or something." That 'or something' definitely doesn't make her story sound terribly credible. She doesn't look embarrassed, like one might expect, more... that something's still troubling her deeply about the incident, whatever it was.

She forces herself to perk up a bit when discussing her travels. "Oh, yeah! I've been all over. You wouldn't believe some of the views I've seen, and all of the different types of food there are. Hang on, I've got some photos..." And now she's unplugging her ear buds and stuffing them into her backpack, so she can open up the photo album on her phone. She starts flipping through the photos--

Suddenly she stops, looking down at her right wrist for a moment. There's a leather bracelet with flashes of a five-sided purple gem--her device's standby form--on it peeking out from under her blazer sleeve. She quickly glances around, as if looking for something, and then looks to you, scrutinizing you more carefully now.

"Actually... why were you so interested in the idea of me discussing magical girls, anyway?" comes the eventual slow, pointed question.

 <Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.

"Oh?" Asks Endo of Kyouka's encounter with the other girl. "Ah, well, I guess that makes sense." He doesn't sound like he understands exactly. Theres a hint of confusion, but he's willing to drop it for now, especially with the look on Kyouka's face.

When the girl starts to prepare her phone he seems interested enough in what she has to show, leaning over a bit to examine what Kyouka is willing to show. He's finished his breakfast by now, idly crumpling up the plastic bag and wrappers to be stored for disposal later.

His eyes do flicker to the purple gem on brief display, but his attention soon returns to the next topic at hand. "Ah, well, I thought you were a fan or something." He replies. "You know, there's clubs and everything. I guess I'm kind of in one too. So, I was just wondering if you saw one or something."

 <Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka puts her phone in her lap, photo album still opened but seemingly forgotten as she keeps watching you. She sees that flicker of your eyes, and it's equally obvious she's looking for anything out of place on you. "Yeah, well, I just moved here, so... I wouldn't know who to talk to about joining a club like that, you know? Also kind of hard to know what kind of people you'll run into in a club like that. Did you just want to talk? Hoping to extend an invitation? Or something else?"

Meanwhile, in that same frequency that only the devices can properly hear, comes a reply. &lt;Query: clarify 'pointless'.&gt;

Unfortunately, any further inquiries by either party are cut short when the phone in Kyouka's lap blasts a ringing alarm into the cold air. Kyouka glances down at her phone. "Class is about ready to start," she remarks, standing up and grabbing her backpack. "... We'll have to finish this talk later." And with that she heads for the entrance.

[[Category:Logs]]